Understanding conflicts, improving communication

Prof. Dr. Annika Sehl, holder of the Chair of Journalism Studies with a focus on media structures and society, and Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Kals, Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology, are heading the project. Their work is embedded in the interdisciplinary research project "KOKO. Konflikt und Kommunikation” (Conflict and Communication), in which scientists from the fields of psychology, journalism and political sociology at the University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich (UniBwM) and the KU are cooperating (see info box). KOKO is headed by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Maes and Dr. Mathias Jaudas from the UniBwM.

The focus is on an analysis of the escalation and de-escalation dynamics of conflicts on a personal, social and media level. On the basis of a representative survey conducted with 7,000 participants, a conflict index is created that shows who is in conflict with whom and why, and what role the media and political issues play in this. Of particular interest is the interplay of individual experience (psychology), characteristics of social systems and political framework conditions (political sociology) as well as media logics and reception dynamics (journalism studies). The interdisciplinary research team specifically selected polarizing topics such as migration, climate protection, equality and social benefits, which essentially concern the distribution of financial resources, rights, obligations and recognition.